Tyson Barrie will not be traded, says Avalanche GM
The Colorado Avalanche have two significant restricted free agents to sign this offseason: Center Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Tyson Barrie. That the former will be inked to a long-term new deal is expected; that the latter would be traded rather than re-signed was heavily speculated.
Barrie for Jacob Trouba, they said! Barrie to the Oilers, they said! Barrie to the Leafs, said that one site!
Well, guess what? One source says that Tyson Barrie isn’t going anywhere: Colorado Avalanche GM Joe Sakic.
According to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post, the Avalanche are not trading Barrie, per Sakic. The team is either going to sign him to a long-term deal or take him to arbitration. From the Post:
TSN’s Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger recently speculated that Barrie, 24, would be moved this season. But Sakic said he’s scheduled to meet with Barrie’s agents during the June 24-25 draft and work on a long-term contract with the restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
“I’d like to do a long-term deal with Tyson. If that doesn’t work out, it’s expected he’ll go to arbitration,” Sakic said. “Either way, he’ll be here.”
This is good news, as long as the Avalanche figure out a reasonable cap number for Barrie and do something else to add a little more “defense” to their defense. Which might mean trading Matt Duchene this offseason. But hopefully not.
Here’s how Mile High Sticking saw the potential for a Barrie trade:
Tyson Barrie is a great skater, he can move the puck, and he can put the puck in the back of the net. But the Colorado Avalanche have a lot of guys who can do those things already. What they are dearly lacking is guys who can play defensively.
… If the Colorado Avalanche trade Tyson Barrie I’ll miss his cool goals and his slick passing. The Avs themselves will miss his offensive abilities and his touch with the puck.
I will still have players to complain about defensively. However, they won’t be making nearly as much money as Barrie will be next year. And they better be down the depth chart as well.
Well, it appears he’s staying.
What do you think Barrie ends up earning?
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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